Everett drops Windber in baseball playoffs

EVERETT — Windber’s 5-2 loss to Everett in the District 5 Class AA semifinal playoffs Tuesday was the epitome of how the entire season went for the Ramblers.

The No. 4 seeded Ramblers (8-12) had a hard time getting runners on base, and when there were men in scoring position, they were unable to score. The Ramblers had five hits to Everett’s eight.

“We were out four or five wins because of one hit,” co-head coach Anthony Degori said. “That’s where we were all year — leaving guys on second and third in an inning where you are down two runs. Then you have the bases loaded and you end the game like that (base running mistake). If we would have gotten seven hits, I think we would have beat them.”

Down 5-1 in the top of the seventh, Windber had two outs and two on when Tyler Zubrucky reached on a error. Losing pitcher Brad Ditzler, the lone Rambler with two hits, drew a bases loaded walk to bring in a run. The rally ended when the player on second was caught in a rundown and thrown out.

Neither team was able to get on the board until the fourth inning. Everett jumped out to a 1-0 lead off the bat of Jake Stover. The No. 9 hitter drove in a run with a single to shallow center. Windber catcher Dan Berkey threw out a runner at third on the play to end the inning.

The No. 1 seeded Warriors (13-6) scored three more runs in the fifth inning. Kyle Droz smacked a two-run single past second for the 3-0 lead. Two batters later AJ Johnson hit an RBI single through the same spot in the infield for the 4-0 advantage.

“We hit the ball when we needed to,” head coach Mike Kline said. “Nothing too damaging or too hard, but we got some big hits at the right time.”

Windber got a run back in the top of the sixth when Zubrucky singled home Josh Shaffer, who had reached second on a throwing error at first the play before.

Warrior pitcher Dylan Foor stopped any chance of more runs when he struck out the side to end the inning. Foor finished with nine strikeouts and three walks.

“Dylan has really done the job in the last couple of outings,” Kline said. “Striking out three with guys on second and third was huge for us. That’s the definition of a step up.”

Everett added a run in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly.

Both teams had runners thrown out at home in the game. The Warriors were gunned out in the third off an error on a steal at third. Jake Wissinger’s throw home from left was on the mark and Berkey applied the tag. The Ramblers were gunned out in the fourth when a double steal was attempted. The runner at second was safe but the throw home beat the runner for the out.

Ditzler struck out seven, allowed eight hits and walked seven in the loss. He loaded the bases in the first and got out of the inning without any runs scored.

“Brad pitched a heck of a game,” Degori said. “He did everything we asked of him. None of their hits were resoundingly solid. They just made a couple of plays that we didn’t.

“We finished with five wins last year and didn’t make the playoffs. We won eight and got into the playoffs this year, so we are improving. It’s going to be hard losing six seniors, but we have six letter winners returning. We will build from there.”

Shade falls

In a District 5-A baseball play-in game Tuesday, McConnellsburg defeated the Shade Panthers, 5-3. McConnellsburg advances to the first round tonight against the top-ranked Salisbury Elks.